Connecticut Innovations (CI), the state’s quasi-public authority responsible for technology investing and innovation development, today announced that it is providing financial assistance to Helix Therapeutics, LLC (Helix) of Cheshire, Connecticut, through its new Pre-Seed Support Services Program. This is the second company to receive assistance through this program. The funding will be used to help Helix develop a business plan that will focus the company’s start up and growth strategy, utilizing the most current regulatory information and financial and market research analysis.
Helix is pursuing therapies for HIV/AIDS and genetic diseases, such as sickle cell anemia and –Thalassemia, two of the most common human genetic diseases. The company’s technology, developed at the Yale University School of Medicine and licensed exclusively, on a world-wide basis, to Helix, uses patented oligonucleotides that bind to the human genome resulting in permanent, targeted gene modification (TGM™). Helix’s proprietary TGM technology platform is a chemical genetics approach that uses the cell’s own DNA repair machinery to modify permanently human genes in vivo.
The founders of Helix include: Gerald F. Vovis, Ph.D., member of Helix’s board of directors; Peter Glazer, M.D., Ph.D., inventor of Helix’s technology platform and professor and chair of the Department of Therapeutic Radiology at the Yale University School of Medicine; Ranjit Bindra, M.D., Ph.D., resident at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; and Kevin Rakin, M.B.A., member of Helix’s board of directors.
CI’s Pre-Seed Support Services Program helps innovative, high technology entrepreneurs develop companies in Connecticut. The CI team provides mentoring, coordination of services and funding for business assistance that will prepare the technology company for future investments. The types of services that an entrepreneur may access through this program include: intellectual property reviews, technology reviews, business plan development and reviews, market analyses, market entry strategy development and other related services, in addition to direct investment by CI and its network of allied investor organizations.
Governor M. Jodi Rell stated, “It is so important to the future of our state to nurture young companies such as Helix. Many get their start in our state’s research universities but need guidance in taking the leap into the commercial arena. We can take great pride in our state’s ability to assist through initiatives established by CI, which directly address the needs of early-stage, technology-oriented companies.”
“We are pleased to play a significant role in helping advance a home-grown technology developed at Yale by assisting Helix’s founders, who are working so hard to bring this medically important technology along and introduce it into the marketplace,” said Charlie Moret, managing director of business development for CI. “Our new pre-seed program is ideally suited to assisting entrepreneurial companies – like Helix – that are striving to bring to life ideas resident at our state’s research universities.”
“The financial assistance from CI will allow us to refine our business plan by targeting those diseases for which patients will receive benefit and the commercial value of TGM will be maximized,” said Gerald F. Vovis, Ph.D., founder of Helix and member of its board of directors.
About Connecticut Innovations, Inc.
Connecticut Innovations (CI) is a quasi-public organization dedicated to driving a vibrant, entrepreneurial, technology-based economy in Connecticut. CI stimulates high-tech growth by investing in: early-stage Connecticut technology companies; university/industry research collaborations; technology transfer; and, clean energy initiatives through the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund. CI also fosters collaboration among government, business, nonprofit and academic organizations to advance technology growth and promotes public policies consistent with CI’s mission. For more information on CI, please visit www.ctinnovations.com.
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